Milwaukee Area Technical College Advantages for Filling the Demand for High School/High Tech Workers

Prepared by John Pawasarat, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Employment
and Training Institute, for the MATC Strategic Planning
Summit, July 12, 2000

Background

As part of a cooperative Milwaukee Public Schools - Milwaukee Area
Technical College - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee project to show MPS
students the financial benefits of post-secondary education, the
Employment and Training Institute tracked the earnings of all students who
had attended MATC from 1989-1998, using the 1999 quarterly wage data filed
by Wisconsin employers with the state Department of Workforce Development.
The research tracked the earnings of 164,865 MATC students in the state
labor force, including 11,652 graduates of MATC programs. (To ensure
confidentiality, only summary data records by analysis categories were
received and analyzed.)

Findings

MATC has the opportunity to have a large impact on the state's
workforce because the four-county Milwaukee area:

has the highest concentration of employers and employees
(28% of
the state's employers, 31% of the state's employees, 35% of wages paid).

has the highest concentration of adults with some college but no
degree
(35%, or 178,735 adults).

has the highest concentration of older adults aged 55 years and
above.

Most (86%) MATC students (both full-time and part-time) learn while
they earn. Of those who work and are employed: 25% are going to school
earning 9 or more credits, 27% are earning 4-8 credits, and 48% are
earning 3 or fewer credits.

MATC already has a direct connection to much of the labor force.
Recent MATC students (enrolled 1989-1998) make up a significant portion
of
the labor market with 164,865 students earning $4.3 billion in 1999 and
comprising 1 of 5 workers in the metropolitan labor force.

MATC graduates remain in the metro area and the State of Wisconsin.
Nearly all (98%) of 1993-1998 graduates remained here with 11,652
graduates generating $335 million in wages in 1999.

MATC graduates are already concentrated in sectors with highest
demand: manufacturing and health. Nineteen percent of MATC graduates are
working in manufacturing and 20% in health fields.

Demographics/Supply Side of the Labor Market

Severe labor shortages may be looming in the future in an already
tight labor market. With already record low unemployment, the shortage
of skilled workers will only worsen as state and metropolitan populations
remain flat or decline, as projected, for at least the next twenty years
for those of prime working age (25-54 years). At the same time an
increasing number of baby boomers will be swelling the ranks of retired
senior citizens, early retirees, or the soon-to-be retired population.

Estimates of no growth, in fact a decline, in the prime working age
population also suggest that the increasing demand for high skilled
workers will be difficult to meet.

The number of new entrants into the labor force will actually
decline, increasing even further the importance of postsecondary
education.

Those adults aged 55 and above will comprise an increasingly
well-skilled pool of labor but may not remain in the labor force.

Labor Market Demand

In May 1999 employers were seeking workers for an estimated 22,152
full-time and 14,501 part-time openings. The largest numbers of full-time
openings were concentrated in service industries (30 percent of total
openings), retail and wholesale trade (25 percent), and manufacturing (15
percent).

The high demand for trained workers continues. Sixty-two percent of
full-time openings required education, training or occupation-specific
experience beyond high school. The job openings survey showed an
estimated 10,492 full-time jobs for experienced or technically-trained
workers, with 65 percent of these jobs identified as difficult-to-fill.

Many better paying jobs requiring technical training or
occupation-specific experience were located at suburban/exurban worksites.
Nearly all (91 percent) of the 1,087 openings in the construction trades
were located at worksites outside the City of Milwaukee.